Florida Panthers goalie Jose Theodore was injured on Saturday and so for their game on Sunday, the Panthers had to call up a goalie from the minor leagues. No problem, Jacob Markstrom is their young goalie prospect that has been getting rave reviews and has already played in the NHL this year.
Markstrom got on a plane to come meet the Panthers for their game against the Carolina Hurricanes, but there was one problem, his equipment didn’t make it. Because of this, the Florida Panthers 39-year-old goalie coach Rob Tallas took part in warmups and was the emergency backup goalie for the start of the game. Markstrom’s gear would eventually arrive and he was able to replace Tallas on the bench because of an obscure rule in the NHL CBA.
Tallas played in 99 NHL games, and his last one was for Chicago in the 2000-2001 season. One of my friends did bring up an interesting point though, how was there not any spare equipment for Markstrom to wear? Or why couldn’t Markstrom wear the goalie coaches equipment? He arrived at the rink in time and Markstrom wearing random goalie gear would undoubtedly be better than a 39-year-old goalie coach that last played 12 years ago. Needless to say it was a pretty bizarre situation, one that Tallas will not soon forget.
[Video via: Eye on Hockey]